BoSoxBiker

Hindsight is 20/20 in most circumstances. This one is one I'm still not sure what I'd say, except to start and let them drive after I know they know my intention to be pure. I was pondering putting something into the local Craig's List, However, I think at that point, I'd be making into a more important thing than it really is. Still, a possible outcome is someone knowing the fellow and lets him know about it. It's also possible that someone in a similar situation that he is in wants to show off his similar pride and joy, leaving me with a similar experience. Make it clear that I am not a dealer, salesman or other. Same house for 20+ years, which is verifiable on the county records' website once we've gotten past that con-artist danger zone. On the CL thing, there are too many creeps out there. It's tough to dredge them out. It's sad. That said, I sold over 20 items in the past month to that many individuals, and all but a couple of them seemed like really good people. In these times, meeting 18+ good people in a short amount of time has been a welcome spirit lifter. I'll check the place to see if there is any sort of common board to post a note on. It's a good idea. My wife suggested going back their at that same time on the next day where the flavor of the day is Pistachio. I win even if I lose. Their pistachio is good stuff.

OK, I see. You're absolutely right. These vocals are not the same as singing to the world. You're hearing your vocals the way I would hear your vocals if I was listening to them through cans in the next room. You're listening to the vocals as if it was me singing and you were singing silently singing to yourself due to volume of the headphones blocking yourself out. It as as foreign to you as learning how to play guitar left-handed. There is no way that one could realistically expect you to apply every bit of a lifetime of singing experience to that situation. So you need to learn how to analyze and adjust real time to make that foreign voice in the headphones behave. So now, you're not equally focused on the vocals. You're hyper-focused on the vocals. Being hyper-focused is hardly a natural act. What comes to us without thought now gets real-itime analysis? Mind you; we've made round trips and are already 10ms behind the pace. We're playing catch-up while trying to apply natural techniques we're spent 50 years honing to a situation that is foreign to us to a great degree. Not working for me, I tell you. Not at all. You've heard my singing. So then, the question is, how do I make it more natural? Here are some things I've tried. #1: Only partially cover my ears with the headphones, turn off the mic feed into the headphone mix and sing as if I'm singing to the radio. Almost natural, even with my studio space not being natural. #2: Headphone on one ear thing - you lose the sense of stereo/depth on both the backing track and the vocals. (leave vocal out of headphones, too) #3: I've not tried yet, but maybe a one-eared in-ear monitor playing lowly and singing normally. Might let some of the stereo and depth back in as opposed to a one-eared headphone. #4: I don't know how to do this in GB, but I am doing this on my next song with my UAD Apollo based system. I'm making a headphone cue mix that will have the vocals laced with whatever amount of natural room sounding reverb I need to make what I'm hearing sound like I am singing out into the room. This will be done in a manner that allows for very low latency. This is reverb that will never hit the recording. It's only purpose is to trick me into thinking I am singing naturally so that I do not have to think about it. The last item is similar to what is done in every professional studio in the world that tracks singers. Most experienced singers have their comfort zone. They know what they want to hear in the headphones, how much reverb if any, any instruments that are in the mix and throw them off, etc, etc. This is going to be my newest attempt to get to that point. I would also think that easing myself into my own headphone mix might be something that helps me get used to it. Anything to help me get from it being a foreign thing to a natural thing. Like that tennis backhand, it really is a new thing.

I've been thinking about this all day long. I've done my best singing ever just playing and singing. What's that tell me? Modified Yoda time. "Do or no do, think not. Do or do not. Mmmmmm. " Singing on pitch is a natural thing to do until we think about it too much. We trained out whole life for this moment. Yet here we are. We've all sang in the car, we've hummed songs all our lives. If you didn't belt out your best Frank Sinatra when it was time to sing ("these little towwwwnnnnnn bluesssssss, are......") then you did it to something else. It's easy to perform to your grill with a beer in your hand. No pressure. Just perform. They you walk back inside with a platter of grub and you family is at least being polite enough to pretend they didn't hear you. Come on, I can't be the only one. Some of us(not me) can do this on command, just hearing one note in the key and belt out the song they need to belt out. I wonder if they are thinking "B........C........F#...G,...D.......B" as they're going along? I bet not. I'd be willing to bet they are thinking of "louder, softer, empassioned, questioning, mad....." or whatever emotion they are trying to achieve as part of the acting job that is singing. You and I, we think of hitting the right note. Technical and Mechanical. If I lost my place and my ability to sing somewhere that I'm not hitting, I will play that note when the time comes on a keyboard through the DAW and into an ear. A few times of that and I'm golden. Well, as much as a bullhorn can be golden. If I'm serenading the Battle Axe(her spelling) and lose my pitch, I find the primary note on the guitar, do my stupid little vocal oo, ahs and eee's and get centered again. If I play the note an octave high, I get there quicker. That's just me. If I've got a vocal style in mind, fine. If I try to imitate a vocal, it's either comedy or awful or both. I can't sing Bruce Springsteen's "The River" with his voice in my head. It sounds like a cross between Andre the Giant(RIP) and that neatly trimmed bearded guy at the but who thought he could sing like Lou Rawls, but could not. (you know the one - wears cardigans because chicks dig it?) . Point is, we ain't Bruce or Lou Rawls. We are Lars and PB and we ain't going to sing well until we accept that and get that imitation out of our head. Well, at least that's part of my singing issues. Find some drones online and practice matching them with headphones on. You won't even have to hear yourself to know when you're on pitch. You will feel more comfortable when you hit it because of the phasey sensation in your head will diminish. All's you've got to do is practice those for a little while and remember the feeling. Just like that tennis backhand motion that comes naturally after trying it all year. Anyhow, Mr Lars, ain't nobody here improved as much in 1-2 years at singing as you have. You blew clear past me, laughing and throwing spark plugs at my windshield as you passed. You can do it and it's not even your first language. Perform away. Practice, fix when needed and I think you'll be a lot better sooner than some of us ever will be.

I wrote above that they(the Silver ones) were aggressive in nature, but were controllable. Basically, If I got sloppy with volume control, they could get too loud in quick fashion.

An older fellow, close to 80, struck up a conversation with me and my Son after watching me sell a cheap bass (via CraigsList) in the parking lot of a local ice cream joint. I asked him if he played, to which he replied that he did a little, and that he inherited his Father's 1930's Gibson. He did not remember the model. His wife was NOT amused at him divulging this information to a stranger. Her mood soured as if he had cut a fart in church. It is a crazy world, after-all, so I do not blame her. We chatted for just a few more minutes as they completed their savory snacks. I've got no interest at becoming a curator. I'm already nervous enough about newer models. That said, I would have loved to see and hear whatever it was that he had and was still cherished. I thought briefly of asking him/them if I could ever hear him play and see his guitar, having never seen one that old in person. Given the times of distancing and his wife's demeanor after the big reveal, I decided against it. Now it's sort of haunting me. Just a little. I mean, how many chances does one get to hear an old(er)-timer expound on such and item and memories involving it? Anyhow, in an rhetorical vein, I wonder what would the right thing have been to say to him/them about any chances to see and have him show me and let me hear his prized heirloom?

Nice videos. Listening to these on top of what I already know from Hummingbord tones do illustrate the guitars versatility. EA, that was a nice performance of Cash's version of Hurt, which I find difficult song to sing & convey emotion properly. (well, for me, anyhow) A couple of notes on the Herco pics. Prior to this discussion, I had just the silver "Flex 75" pics. I now have two marked "Flex 75" due to my lack of inspection on amazon.. One is called "Holy Grail" and is off-white in color instead of silver. The differences, tonally speaking, are quite remarkable despite sounding almost identical when dropping them on a table-top. The "Holy Grail" version as a softer sounding attack while the gray version is considerably brighter. Not annoyingly bright, though, but I don't think it's a match for the topic at hand. I also ordered and received a pack of "Vintage '66". They feel a teensy bit thinner than the two .75mm versions I have. These have some brightness, but are as distinctive tonally different as the others. More so than the differences between thin/med/heavy of some common celluloid pick commonly used some time ago. I also ordered the Flex 50's, which should be here next week. I put a link to the ones I ordered below the two I've received. This link had an option for the silver flex-75s, but I do not know for sure if they are the same as the ones I have. I'll do some experimenting in 9 days when the Hummingbird comes back out to play. I still have the Martin Titanium string to finish experimenting with, so I might to additional experiments with a more traditional string later in the week. Herco Holy Grail Herco Vintage 66 Herco Flex 50 Guitars quite fun to explore on many levels.

Did you get to try the 1960 Fixed Bridge 'Bird? I've "only" got a 2018 hummingbird Standard, but am curious to someday play one of those historic series models to see how they compare. (or don't compare)

Thanks for the thoughts on this. I do like the shine the polish puts on guitars, but is scares me. I use it twice a year maybe. Probably should play it safe, though. Thanks! Also, I agree. No electronics in the way. Back into the studio next week, I think. Thanks, guys. JCV, I saw where you had tried them all at NAMM. If you don't mind, what were your thoughts on the J-55. That one was second place for me. I would like to try one someday.

Congrats on your new guitar! Looks and sounds like you two are going to hit it off well. 🙂

Thanks for the clarifications. The HB does have much to offer as far as variety of tones. I was not thinking of the same thing. I was thinking(guessing, as it turns out) that the term referred to the thicker, chimey tone with good bottom end support pushing it up through. Related to the actual tone being optimized byALD323(OP) , scratch my thoughts on the Cool Picks, SAGOD swag picks and the Dunlop Ultex. The thinner of the Taylor Thermex darker tone picks should be tried if you ever see one in a friend's pick bowl. Especially if current efforts are ending up on the thin side of things. (Blue Swirl and Tortoise, in case color batches resulted in random tone changes...) I'll jump back into this in a few weeks when my HB gets back onto the stand before and after string change from the Martin Titaniums. Kind of curious to see if the Titaniums let me get that "nectar" or "honey glaze" thing. I do remember Nylon as being a helpful material for the tone being sought. I have the .75MM version of Herco shown above. It can be aggressive, but it can also be controlled. I'll have to get a pack of .50s to try.

Can anyone point me to a good example of that nectar tone?

That looks quite wonderful. Congrats! That really is quite a looker. I'm going to try to hunt one or two down on YouTube for a taste of what that might possibly sound like. I know I despise not being able to buy guitars I've not played, but I've lucked out big time. I guess we're all adapting to the new world order (pre-covid).

I have to admit to not knowing what that nectar tone is, though I'm sure I've had to have heard it somewhere at some point in my life. Mine, before experimenting with titaniums, I've been using mostly .75 thru 1.25. My plectrum choices have been mainly Taylor's (less bright), Cool Picks(more bright) , Dunlop Ultex and the Sam Ash Guitars of Distinction picks(deeper) they pack in the cases when I have them ship to me instead of the store pickup. The Ultex and Taylors are usually first. The 0.88 Ultex seems to be a great starting point for me on the HB. For me, it's a nice combination of deep, but bright and quick through the strings. A little less bright on the Taylor, but similar speed. I think it's the 1.0MM FWIW, .012-.053, Martin Silks(80/20), D'Add NBs and ClearTone EQs were last three string choices.

Now I need a hug. 😞 Time for some "Wrong side of the tracks SJ-200 truss-rod-cover Blues." 🤐

fwiw - my 2018's truss rod cover is blank. Now I feel left out.

SC is not just for breakfast anymore. 🙂

Thanks. I feel quite fortunate. We are continuing to bond. It's got me to the point where I might not even install a strap button. I'm sure it is a fake now. No bad spots in these Grovers and I've had it for 3+ days. 🙂 Man, that's gotta be tough as nails. Is it stuck somewhere, or did it get delayed in Bozeman factory due to this Covid thing? Thanks BayouBengal I'll be heading back upstairs into my home project studio as soon as Mrs PB heads back to work. I don't want to waste time we could have had together just in case something bad happens with all this stuff going on. Don't think I've been in there longer than 30 minutes in the past month. I will definitely track something solo with these before jumping into my next song. That back RW really caught my eye. They had two. I had the salesman select the one he thought the better of the two sonics and playable standpoints, and was pretty stoked that this was the one. I've not seen one quite like it, though both were just drool worthy and different than my Martin RW.

I didn't put 2 and 2 together for the longest time that some folks referred the the SJ as an SJ, not an SJ.

That was a very enjoyable audio and visual little journey, QM. Well done.

In my house, they are now known as Rosie and Mable.

A few more...... And last, how I re-purpose a television Armoir.

Thanks, everyone! I do feel honored that the guitar was allowed to come to my house. We are still enjoying our bonding period. I took some better pics this morning before out internet crapped out. I can't get a clear shot of that dimple in the nut. I'll try later. My old digital SLR is just that - OLD. Can I still use the same Gibson polish cleaner stuff? Pics:

The couple of ring-outs he does to close the song sound convincing enough to me, but I'm a long way away from being able to pick out guitars by their sound.

I don't know if we'll ever see that again. Sure wish we would, though.

I hear ya, Ray! ("and I hope he lets me bring my hummingbird......")